talk about how the carrier plant is faring. and, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is june 2, 2018, and the fate of the u.s. economy is strong according to the latest jobs numbers released yesterday. the unemployment rate was up to 3% in may, matching the lowest rate the country has seen in the .ast century the numbers were touted by president trump a little too him to say than is is good news. this could be good news for the republicans ahead of the midterms.

let's get your thoughts on the rate is jobs numbers. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. republic test democrats, (202) 748-8000 -- democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also reach us on social media and facebook. more from the front page of today's "wall street journal" about those new jobs numbers. the jobs engine finds new year. -- year. -- gear. high school dropouts, blacks, and latinos -- the jobless rate in may tickets down to a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, the lowest since april 2000.

the labor department says the last time the rate was lower was in 1969. u.s. employers added 223,000 jobs last month, extending longest continuous job expansion on record in 92 months. average hourly earnings at step 2.7% from a year earlier, and -- raises were stronger for rank-and-file managers. it is pretty hard to argue that the labor market is anything but write in the sweet spot. there is a tremendous demand for labor right now. what thee a look at council of -- let's hold off on that. we are taking your calls today. if you are republican, (202) 748-8001.

democrat, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . if you have recently gotten a job in the last year and let us know how you think about the job numbers that (202) 748-8003. click that weat have the chairman of the economic council of economic advisers, kevin hassett talking to reporters friday about the jobs report and the tweak the president made. kevin the lowest unemployment rate in 18 years. for then appropriate president to tweet about it? kevin: he just gave a long interview about it. >> can you give us your take? a lot of people are criticizing that as inappropriate.

kevin: it is extremely appropriate for the president to be interested in the numbers. he loves the economic numbers. we get the numbers and talk about them and often the meetings got a really long because he is trying to help american workers especially. anyone this speed to heut the job numbers -- did speak to anyone about the job numbers? kevin: i did not talk about that. they are career professionals -- that guide us on how to follow the procedures. you get the numbers on thursday and then -- >> it depends on what the numbers are. >> and then? >> then we discover what we want to do. host: dave is on the line from

texas. what do you think about these numbers? set thedrop unemployment rate just stayed but the job numbers are pretty good i say. i have a job for papa john's and the gas prices are killing me. all: are you really feeling of these indicators that say the economy is strong, it is good news for workers and employers? are you feeling that in your life? caller: not really. the gas prices, my electric bill was double for my house. i will never buy anything from north carolina. they invest in these coal companies and cold jobs. coal jobs.

i am against these tariffs. host: joining us on the phone to help explain these jobs numbers sierra --ore is cap bloomberg. i hope i said your name right. guest: that was a good shot. host: i will let you say it yourself. guest: cut the. katia. host: what is the high point about the jobs numbers? guest: the rate itself and the wages. the unemployment rate tightened to 3.8%, which was completely

unexpected. it tightened to 3.9% and that was unexpected. it was largely due to the fact that there are fewer people in the labor force. you take a look at wages and we were looking for 0.1% month over year over year, and those came in over estimates. and looks like people are finally getting paid a little bit more, especially nonsupervisory roles. supervisors and those on the assembly line and pouring your coffee at the coffee shop, and those are rising and faster clip. host: in the past month it seems to be a trend that while the jobless numbers are going down, the wages staying -- seemed stagnant. what happened to cause that increase in wages. guest: that is a combination of

factors that is finally hitting companies. we have been talking for years about wiley are just not rising -- why we are just not rising. are rising to that level, but not to the extent you would expect for that kind of picture. what we are finally seeing is a confluence of these factors. we are seeing companies and people who are more emboldened and quitting their jobs and going elsewhere. companies are choosing from a smaller pool is to, so they are desperate to retain users and find his workers. they are paying you more, offering bonuses, raising rates. another thing we are seeing is younger people being hired.

collegeraduating from and being snapped up immediately by these companies looking to assemble parts at a factory or anything you can imagine. with the unemployment rate of 3.8%, there is not a lot of wiggle room. been how has the market reacting to this news? that is an interesting question because they were marked after the number changed. we come out of the lock up in the morning, what we receive as beta and we cannot access their phones or talk to anyone, and then we are on camera and speaking where the data room would be connected again. the market has stood to react -- stock market

reacted immediately. andbond market also reacted then once the numbers came out at 8:30 and we saw the wages figure, there was a bit more of that positive upswing in the market, and they just continued reacting to it throughout the day, which i guess is normal for the monthly jobs numbers. i was good to say, the thing about this speed is the president did not -- speech, is the president did not give numbers away but said he is looking forward to the numbers, but is there some sort of problem with that? is that against a legal role? guest: yes, there is a federal

law of the bureau of labor statistics that gives us these numbers. they are embargoed until 8:30 and that were -- that includes the government officials who are breached -- briefed. ad tweeting about that certain way, people at the marketplace were trading that is a very clear signal. some traders look for any clue. faciale their spatial -- features? we know he only tweets with that is positive. it really gave that indication for people to start trading. host: the jobs numbers have been pretty good for about 92 months, so it was not a huge stress to think this news would be good. guest: right.

they have been pretty positive. the trend over the next five years has been this declining unemployment rate, but the way ht we were trying to decipher and unpack. he just had david on the phone delivering pop is -- papa john's pizza and delivering gas, this is a huge issue for americans right now where we are seeing gas prices on the upswing and are struggling to a form house -- fort housing. regions, thens -- question is will wages, are they still rising fast enough?

in other words, we talk about all this data and all these economists are like, technically this should compensate, but on the ground in america are people actually feeling the benefits of this tight job market? does it really matter if americans are not feeling it in their pocketbooks and in their lives? that is something i don't know if we can answer right now. this week also the president announced he will move forward with tariffs against some of our allies, including canada and mexico, as well as china and the new -- that e.u. how might that affect the u.s. economy. guest: we have estimates between it being a hit the 0.1% growth

gdp to 1%, depending on which economist you speak of. the white house is there'll be minimum impact on gross domestic roddick's, -- products. a trade war would involve tariffs on goods like this $50 billion in goods the president announced that he is going to proceed with. the is a list of items that u.s. and chinese trade and there'll be tariffs and truly -- eventually. arethese countries reciprocating and saying, we will make tariffs on orange juice, mexico will reciprocate, the e.u. will reciprocate, and so will the wto which is the court that will decide on this.

if it can do anything about it. we're going to see prices rise. we had the manufacturing data yesterday showed that companies -- that will be a while that david will feel it. up becauses might go we get a lot of materials from canada, lumber for example. -- no one canally argue the prices will go up. even when wilbur ross went on tv holding a can of campbell soup and a coca-cola can, saying the prices will go up. that will impact the bottom line for a lot of people. host: thank you so much for

joining us this morning. guest: thank you for your time. -- calling from louisville, ohio on the independent line. caller: when you turn on anything from today's so-called media, you are being brainwashed. you are being divided. that unemployment is closer to 20%. you just had some lady from , the guy is the fifth richest man on earth, and in all day media outlet in new york city. new york city is the home of wall street, federal reserve, the treasury, and the treasury put these numbers out.

the guy should be in jail for what he did tend to 20 years ago and now for what he did the other day. host: explain that is why you do not believe the labor department numbers. caller: i have written three books and spoken and had my own radio show. are brainwashing people about unemployment is because of the stock market. stock market is at all time highs. cnbc, it is news or sick the way they promote class floor -- warfare. put out that unemployment was 15% to 20%, if the stock market goes up every day that would kind of and tyson ryan. -- entice a riot. the only way you have inflation is higher wages. the word -- wages were stagnant

for 30 years. host: online, we have raymond calling in from southfield, michigan, on our democratic line. [indiscernible] 13%, and we left office about 4%. obama -- host: a little more from the new york times about the jobs numbers another president announced them. so good the president cannot wait to tell you, he broke years of presidential protocol with a

tweet that signaled a strong jobs report was on its way from the labor department, an hour before the report was released. the white house brushed off any notions mr. trump cross the said but legal experts this week raised possible insider trading concerns and said it wasonomists a blatant misuse of presidential power. oc is calling in from the

democratic line. caller: this is not the whole story. there was no results. , along withhat , and as trump is taking credit for the unemployment, i think you should since it wasobama initially a situation. somebody needst deal.e this whole

cnbc reports that the jobs report might be bad news for democrats ahead of this year's midterm election. was greatloyment for news for anyone joining job in america in less you are running for congress. voters who are employed are historically more lave -- likely to favor incumbents and that democratsallenge for in senate races who are looking to unseat republican majorities in both chambers. we are getting your reaction to the latest jobs numbers. (202)icans can call

748-8001. democrats can call (202) 748-8001. .(202) 748-8002> derek is on the line. caller: everybody knows that trump is a habitual liar. he takes full credit for the unemployment. let's go back to when barack obama became the president. 700,000 jobs lost every month. the dow was down to 6800. wasbarack obama left, it straight years of positive job growth. the only reason why the dow is rising fast is because

republicans do what they always do. they give big tax cuts to the rich and for the organizations. trump, he will tell you it is all him. we had a great, outstanding economy. katie is on the line -- host: katie is on the line from youngstown ohio. what do you think? caller: it is every it doesn't it is as phony as every jobs is as phony as every jobs report we have gotten lately. joble who could not find a who became so discouraged that they quit working were not counted in the unemployment numbers. so they just kind of went to the side.

do agree, our real unemployment rate is much higher than artificial ones we have had. people afterg their benefits run out, they does not cap they just do not count them anywhere. and i lost myld job about 65 years of. we were at the top of the pay scale. we were removed. we had to take our pensions prematurely, which short sizes us on our pension income for the rest of our lives. i wishnot considered a

that we would count unemployment people for the reality of that number, not to say that we haven't had strong growth like the previous gentleman said, this is the end of 92 months. 92 months is more like eight years than one and a half. host: some more help the report from the wall street journal. this is not your father's 3.8% unemployment rate, noting that economic conditions are

different from the last time joblessness was so low. in the spring 2000, the economy was grong significantly faster. a broader measure of unemployment and underemployment that includes american stock in part-time jobs or too discouraged to look with 6.9%. last month it was 7.6%. a smaller share of americans are working are seeking work today. it grew for 50 years of it until 2000 and has declined for the last decade. bill is on our democratic line from new mexico. caller: good morning. big business prefers republicans. in therepublican is not president's office, they take away jobs. they take away jobs to other countries.

when a republican comes into office, they bring him back. he is a big hero now with jobs coming back. ist is the way big business in the job market. host: marianne is on the line from herndon, virginia on our republican line. what do you think? not well read about unemployment and stuff like that. i just want to comment on the fact that people seem to just thate the positive things are currently happening in our country right now, and i do not understand why they cannot seem to appreciate. it sounds like a good piece of news and yet everyone is trying to spin it in a negative way. i am sick and tired of that, and it happens on both sides. i hope people will get to a

point with their not just willing to say, this is such good news, rather than spending it in another way to serve their agenda. feeling all the positive news about the economy, about jobs, the stock market, and other things. do you feel like the economy is heading in the right direction? caller: i do, i really do. i am not so well read in these matters, but i listen. cutswondering, has the tax for the different corporations for the chop companies have done in any way kind of contributed to the positive employment growth? i am asking. is that a possibility? host: the president has touted that as far as the news for wages, the new york times

reports we ran out of words to describe how good the jobs numbers are. the real question in analyzing the may jobs numbers was that there were enough senate numbers for good in an online source to provide dramatic release. excellent fit the bill. those are the kinds of terms that are appropriate when the united states economy adds 223,000 jobs in a month, despite being nine years into an expansion and when the employment rate falls to 3.8%. rise in average a dish earnings, but not -- caroline is

calling from the bronx from the democratic line. caller: i think it is not realistic. someone has got to do -- got to look at what they need to do to downsize things. [indiscernible] it brought in people that were younger. the work in the role that i left. startedically [indiscernible] this is all unrealistic. host: do you think these numbers are leaving some folks out? caller: absolutely.

it is something there that makes everybody feel like the country is going in the right direction. host: calling from malden, massachusetts on our independent line. caller: i am ecstatic about the jobs report. i think president trump the greatest president in american history. please correct people who say instead of of -- ax ask. host: what about these numbers are most encouraging? caller: everything, everything has been coming up roses since president trump was elected. kimberly, you are the wizard of

uh. you say it too much. host: boone is on our republican line. caller: the numbers are great. people who quit looking for jobs in previous years are now looking for jobs and getting jobs. now i've heard people say about wages, the wages are going up slowly. who wants to pay $15 for a hamburger? pay someone $50 -- $15 for a hamburger, the price of a burger will go up and it affects jobs. trump promised he would create jobs and that is what he is doing. there is people complaining about how the company street their employees or their associates.

president trump has no control over that. that is a company's responsibility to treat people fairly and honestly. but people are muddying the trumpbecause president has created jobs like he promised, he is keeping his campaign promises. the country was so polarized in previous years that they were scared to do anything, because if you do one thing they've fixed something else. you do another thing if fixed something else. we are not doing that as an option. host: the new york times has more analysis about the job

numbers, saying it reflects consistency that politicians, lovetors, and journalists to obsess over the month-to-month swing and the job numbers, but the true story of the recovery is one of remarkable consistency. american employers have had it for 92 straight months, far and away the longest streak on record, and apart from a few blips the gains have been steady. way -- hirings countryted early in the -- recovery. expected thets rate of job creation to keep falling as companies recovered from the downturn and the pool

of available workers. it's much longer view of this jobs report -- it does not go for month-to-month, it goes from year-to-year. host: willie and is on the republican line that lily is on the republican line from jackson, mississippi. i would like to comment on what the democrats plan to do in the next election in regard to the job rate and how pleased everyone seems to be about the 3.8. that is good, i realize that. the democrats, if they get themselves together and go into depth on how high the wages have remain the same, then we have a good argument. we don't have to worry about the rate. just let people know what we 3.8 to do and we can argue

percent. i do not see how anyone can rely on the president's statements when we have one sentence, he lies twice. is on the republican line from lawrenceville, georgia. caller: i want to talk about the report but first i want to answer that person who just said trump lies all the time. i want the democrats to come on the line and tell me a lie that president trump told that is bigger than the lies that president obama told about, you can keep your doctor, you will get $2000 off the price of your health care. give me a trump lies that is bigger than those lies.

obama was the apple in the pig's mouth. in today's "washington post," migrants remain high despite the trump administration's crackdown at the border. a number of migrants attempting in the unitedally an early indication that zero-tolerance measures separating parents from their children and president trump's deployment of the national guard have not had an immediate deterrent effect. the department of homeland security is expected to punish its closely watched monthly arrest, and the trump and officials -- officials tromp -- trump toutedls --

the decreases in personal finance. migration trends have reversed in march and april, exceeding $50,000. the highest number of his presidency. tony is on the independent line from battle creek, michigan. caller: i think the numbers are great and everything, but at the same time i think it might all be for nought. we have a trade war on the horizon, gas prices are rising, and there is the chance the interest rate could go up. the wages are still stagnant, so it kind of this -- washes out everything as far as unemployment. host: are you feeling the economy, all these economic indicators saying the economy is

very strong? caller: i am not really feeling that, but with the math -- gas prices, the trade war on the horizon and interest rates going up, i am not happy at all. host: michelle is calling on the republican line from mission -- michigan. caller: i think president trump is doing an excellent job. he is fulfilled all of his campaign promises but one. he cannot get money appropriated for the wall, which we need. this anden canned probably the best present we have is better than canned peaches. host: are you feeling the boost in the economy in your everyday life? my2) 748-8000 my -- caller: everyday life is comfortable

thanks to donald trump. the: president trump and canadian prime minister are sparring of the decision by the u.s. to impose tariffs on canadian goods. trade tensions escalated on friday after justin trudeau rebuked the white house's tariff theirump disparaged agricultural trade policies on twitter. fresh sign ofe how the american levees threatened to roll already contentious talks to revamp the north american free trade agreement or nafta. it also signals an abrupt souring of relations between two neighbors and honest in the allies usually using -- who usually keep a corporate town.

adam is calling from iceland, oregon on our western line -- republican line. caller: this whole situation reminds me of "animal farm." essentially napoleons spokesperson is coming out and telling the animal they have more food, yet their living experience is not like that. questiono recommend -- our circumstances. millions and millions of americans whose living experience is not that. the reports keep telling us life is better for us. i do not think life is better

for america. it has not changed in about 30, 40 years. nowunemployment numbers go -- go down and americans live a worse life. host: is that true in your life? caller: i am not experiencing an economic upturn, no. i have been looking for a job over a year and so has my wife. that has formed my cynicism. more to the point, we have a president whose essentially poisoning democratic processes .cross the board

host: the washington journal is reporting the energy department is moving to assist nuclear and coal plants. plan to proposing a new bail out failing nuclear and coal fire power plants by forcing grid operators to take the electricity they produce and move that into competitive power markets and raise prices for consumers. a draft now under the white house review is not the first attempt to help coal and nuclear businesses. their goal is to stop a wave of coal closing over two years while the energy department studies which plans nationwide

are critical to assuring reliable nature -- power in case of an attack or natural disaster. it has forced: nuclear competitors out of business, a trend mr. prompt -- mr. trump has decided to slow. caller: good morning. i think the jobs numbers are great, but that is not our problem here. the problem in this country is our debt. if we are hiring people and not providing them with an adequate offset theits to wages that they are collected, and we are not collecting revenue in this country, then it is going to fall back on every american and taxpayer.

i were are going to continue to $28 trilliond on in debt that we are incurring. that will be added with these that president trump has instituted. the american people need to the realist as far as what is going on. a --you have an inflation in asia, we are looking at it every day. the state that it is a great jobs number, wait until the debt has to be paid and all of us are going to be in deep poverty.

i hope president trump looks at what he is doing. if you are not collecting the revenue and we went through this under president reagan, and i followed every president because i was hired as a state worker under president nixon. daniel is calling from fort worth, texas on our independent line. news,: i think it is good but i think the books are cooked as many people have already said. they are making it out as if it has just happened in the last year and a half when it is a continuation of a trend going on for a long time. there is a lot of underreporting of people who are not in the workforce anymore. i think that it's good that we are growing, but i think as the

lady was just stating, there is a lot more going on here. i wanted to say that our problems will not get solved by getting polarized more and letting the powers that be continue to do that to us, and then getting themselves elected on a minority of americans. i think we need to pull together and stand up to their racist baiting tactics, like the guy who called for massachusetts. think all americans need to step up and people like that in their place. jason is calling on the republican line from boca raton, florida. caller: i am so happy to see president trump. he tries to do the best. he needs time. one thing i want to tell you

one is conserved for work and one is something else. him and then i bid for five months before he went president. this is such a beautiful thing -- bring itthe work [indiscernible] host: in terms of the numbers, what is your view on the economy? caller: the economy is good. when a time.

this president, you need to give him time. other headlines, the hill reports that secretary mattis is accusing china of intimidation and coercion in the south china sea. defense secretary james mattis accused china of deploying a strategy of intimidation and coercion in the south china sea vigorously with beijing in the region, speaking at the annual shangri-la dialogue in singapore. he said china's placement of weapons systems, including missile batteries and military -- outposts about in the disputed sea raised questions about beijing's intentions to fight china's claims to the contrary. it is tied directly to military use for coercion. henry is on our democratic line

from clyde, new york. what do you think about the economic report? about thehink economic report, but the stuff you are saying on television, i don't think is right. think there is no 3.8% unemployment. i did not think the rate is 2 .illion jobs - host: just over 200,000 jobs. why don't you believe the numbers? caller: i am an african-american man, 88 years old, and i worked construction for 65 years. may is when the weather starts clearing up any prettier

construction numbers back to work. his -- because i work with the construction company i worked ahead. i play with, alone. we have it all over. laid us time comes, it off. when they got a break back, they put it back on. the labor department last month reported 6 million job openings.

the tight labor market underscores the need for more seasonal workers and the labor department ought to improve -- approve more h two visas to make the economic demand the summer. immigrants aren't stealing jobs for americans, they are creating more opportunities for economic growth. business confidence has improved and workers are reaping the benefits. please do not blow it with a trade war. richard's on the line from broken arrow, oklahoma, republican line. caller: how are you this morning? host: i am great. caller: i don't think it is reflective of what is going on. take a hard need to look at how they are measuring try totric and maybe revise it. what do you do with past years?

that is a bit of a problem. i think there is an awful lot of , especiallyhere who between 55 and 65 years old, are still trying to get back to work. the unemployment has run out so they are not counted there. maybe they are counted in the survey if that is how i understand it. --hink there is a lot of there is a lot of hiring practices now, not hiring, but employment practices that keep the wages low and keep people kind of underfoot. cutok a $50,000 a year pay to get my last job about six months ago. that is what i could do. i still needed to work at 60 years old, and there is still, in my mind, a lot of problems like that. the other thing i see is on job

openings when you go to apply for a job, they throw the kitchen sink at it and you are required to do all kinds of things, combined professions like chemical and electrical engineering. together,bined whereas before they were kind is separated. and thatder to qualify is why they cannot fill the jobs. let's listen to what the house minority whip said about the jobs numbers. it is welcome news that the economy continues to sustain job creation, although at a muted pace. president trump continues to play dangerous games with economic policies that are not paying off for american workers where they are launching a trade war or adding trillions to deficits to give tax breaks to

the wealthy. this president and republican led congress are mortgaging tomorrow's economic strength for positive headlines today. -- are on our line for you there? we are going to move to diana calling from cleveland on our republican mind. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. i really wanted to make a few comments today. i believe the majority whip that just spoke, them talking points are pretty much over. people are tired of listening to that. the only thing that's the other -- these colors are not understanding the jobless numbers and cannot come to grips with seeing that donald trump is doing something good.

hillary is not going to be president, never going to be president, and the obamas are no longer in the white house. anything that trump does, they are not going to appreciate. in thegive everyone united states $1 million and they will not say, he has done something good. i have been a democrat for eight years and voted for mr. obama twice. i think i was maybe delusional. there was really no jobs. i suffered quite a bit and i don't think anything got done. i see more money in my paycheck. my boys are working now. ohio, andcleveland, we work with a lot of obama sir borders -- supporters. we were concerned about hillary and we just wanted something new in office, and i think we got what we wanted.

i believe donald trump will be president in 2020. i do not think the democrats got a message and i'm surprised they don't think american people got it figured out, what is going on with them. i get in circles when i talk. host: we appreciate the call. secretary ross is heading to china to have trade talks with the country. trade negotiation's are haggling carryow to get beijing to out recent promises to purchase more american farm and energy products, with washington pushing for a long-term contract that chinese officials are reluctant to commit to. officialsistration said the commerce secretary remains scheduled to be in china on saturday. the plan is for two talks in beijing with china's top trade negotiator.

move toe house's recent impose tariffs on chinese imports complicated prospects for his mission. we have domingo calling in from midland, texas on our independent line. theer: this is proof that --ted states and the world economists who will talk to how --do this president clinton congressman jackson and his son, over there you will see the secret why this thing, why this higheryment is now 1.2%

the 9.5 that used to be printed in economics books. mine of raising employment to 100% employment, which people talk about that is impossible. are with the government. this happened when congress said we are going to send a message to this people running the federal reserve. [indiscernible] that is all we have for this segment. coming up, two viewpoints on the right to try legislation by the

president this week. first up, starlee coleman. then we will be joined by dr. steven joffe. a top tradeviewing expert at the u.s. chamber of commerce. the administration is levying on metal imports from canada, mexico, and the european union. interesting to hear so many members of congress share their concern and opposition to these tariffs. one common message is you need to treat your friends better than you treat your adversaries. iny were opposing tariffs the name of national security. are our bestllies customers. these comments we have heard from speaker ryan, majority

leader mcconnell, a large number of members. haveber of members who we not really heard be critical of the administration measures before. threat a week or 10 days ago attention-getting. steel and aluminum, the auto sector is a big deal. that we will have 25% tariffs as the white house told the press, that is potentially incredibly damaging to the sector. nameplateo foreign three u.s. manufacturers, none of them want to see this go forward. largest exporting

sector. they have doubled production in the last decade. impose 25% tariffs on cars and auto parts on these firms that are manufacturing on the basis of global supply chains, it would cut their operations into ribbons. that is an issue coming back to congress. they say about cars, every state is an auto state. touch every part of our economy. that is an issue that will be galvanizing for the united states congress. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by starlee advisor a senior policy at goldwater institute to talk about the recent right to try toislation that was signed

give greater access to drugs for terminally ill people. .hank you for joining us please remind our viewers what the goldwater institute is and what's its mission? it is a public policy research and litigation organization. we help policy makers come up with solutions to problems facing everyday americans. our mission is to make sure respectlutions individual freedom and the constitution and give people maximum options in their life pursue their own dream and vision for their family. host: to remind viewers what the right to try acts does, thisdent trump signed it week. president donald trump signed the right to try act on wednesday, aimed at helping terminally ill patients access drug treatments not yet fully

approved by the food and drug administration. he said his administration worked hard on this, and said repeatedly he didn't understand why it had not been done before. tell us what your view is about this legislation. guest: the goldwater legislation crafted the policy. a couple of years ago we started looking at options for terminally ill patients. how do they get access to treatments when they are told there is nothing left? we were told about programs that exist already, and we felt they were not adequate. there were not enough patients able to take advantage. we thought there has to be a better way for people who are dying to have access to treatments before it is too late. we came up with the right to try. the right to try says if you are terminally ill and you have

exhausted all treatment options and you cannot get into a clinical trial, but your doctor and the drug company thinks a clinical trial could help you, you will have access to that drug. host: this legislation allows terminally it will americans to try medicines that have passed phase one of the fda approval process and remain in clinical trials, but are not yet on pharmacy shelves. remind our viewers how to join the conversation. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 if you are a terminally ill patient or have a family member who is, we have a line for you, (202) 748-8003. tell us who qualifies for this treatment.

what protocol needs to be followed to qualify for this, and how does it work? guest: the way a patient would has to is there dr. certify they are terminally ill. they have exhausted all options, and they cannot qualify for a clinical trial. we want to make sure the drugs available to everyone who needs fda's safehrough the and effective clinical trial process. right to try doesn't challenge that. what we are saying is once the fda determines a drug is safe enough to be given to a broad number of people in clinical trials, it is safe enough for terminally ill people who need that as well. host: what is the treatment usually aimed at? we heard the president say

thousands of lives might be saved. is that the truth? is it more about extending life a little bit for people that might otherwise be facing death sooner? guest: it is both. we don't know what will happen for patients. whatn't know now treatments will ultimately be available for people under right to try. new treatments will be available all the time. these are already being safely used in clinical trials. there are often drugs used in clinical trials that you become life-saving treatments. a cancer treatment is a good example, when it was in clinical trials they saw tremendous help for patients who were given that treatment in trial. it has become a treatment now that is -- that has changed the way we treat cancer. many people with cancer are

alive today because they had access to that new treatment. in same thing is happening clinical trials come in people's lives are truly being saved. there are treatments that changed diseases that are terminal now into manageable or chronic conditions. that is something we could see. their situations, no doubt, where we are just talking about extending people's lives. that may not be a calculation they want to make. are donefeel they trying. right to try is optional, for people who just want to try one more thing, to be around a little longer for their family. host: do we know how many people might benefit? .uest: that is unknowable it is impossible to know how many people year will be diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and what treatments might be available. more than one million americans die every year from diseases that have treatment options in

the approval pipeline. randy from warsaw, virginia. good morning. yourr: i'm not against right to try legislation, but what i have noticed is the federal government relaxed their processes for proving the drugs early late 1980's and 1990's. moree noticed since then ads on tv from law firms saying if you took this drug give us a call. to wonder ifening that is because the processes have been shorted so much? important question. thisone wants to know, is

safe? right to try is no more risky than people who enroll in clinical trials. it is the same treatment. people from all walks of life are enrolled in clinical trials where they are helping us learn if a drug is safe and effective. risk people are taking a by enrolling in a clinical trial . our view is for terminally ill people, they should have the right to take the risk if that is a choice they would like to make. theink people should know fda process has actually gotten ander, more complicated, more costly for drug companies to complete. they are certain times when the approval process can be shortened, for example, when a drug is clearly a breakthrough treatment that is much more effective than anything else on the market. sometimes the fda will expedite

the approval of those drugs. generally speaking, it takes 12 years for a drug to be approved and costs $2 billion. site a medical news reports one of the key sponsors of this bill himself said the .aw would weaken the fda says senator ron johnson, the author of the federal right to try law, wants to make clear that his new law is meant to weaken the fda. this thought in tents to diminish the fbi's power over people's lives, not increase it. gottlieblican wrote to to request a meeting about the implementation of the law. guest: we don't think this weakens the fda. does do iseasure

gives people who are otherwise out of options the opportunity to pursue a treatment without first asking the federal government for permission. there is a difference between weakening the fda and the overall approval structure of a drug can develop it. this law has no impact on that at all. it does say if you want to pursue a treatment as a last resort, you should be free to do that with the approval and advice of your doctor, not the federal government. nne from daytona beach, florida. you are touched by terminal illness? hi there. is in amy relative nursing home. i became very concerned when i saw this go into law that it may various,or for

hopefully a minority, of doctors to possibly use or try out untested drugs on elderly patients that are so trusting and/or oblivious, in dementia, --otherwise's essentially otherwise essentially terminal. i became worried. i wondered what in the law might protect them from nefarious practitioners? guest: i can understand why you would be concerned. if that were to ever happen, the attorney general in the state where that kind of activity took place and the federal department of justice would step in and make sure that that dr. went to jail. is completely illegal. there's nothing in this law that would protect a doctor or drug company from persecution -- from

prosecution if they engaged in something like that. , andis unethical, illegal not allowed under this law either. host: we are talking to starlee coleman, senior policy advisor at the goldwater institute and cofounder of pull forward. the rightking about to try legislation signed into law by president trump, which opens the new pathways of treatment for terminally ill notle with drugs that are completely through the fda process. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 if you or someone in your family is facing a terminal illness, (202) 748-8003.

difference, starlee, between this legislation than the drug trials we are familiar with? guest: drug trials are hard to get into. that is a big difference. about the national institute for 3% of all cancer patients across the country are able to participate in clinical trials. when you think about all the people impacted just by cancer alone, it is very limited and challenging to get into a clinical trial. anddrugs being evaluated tested for more rare diseases, like for example, one of the families at the signing ceremony, the adorable little ,oy that stole everyone's heart he has a rare form of muscular dystrophy that is deadly. he is in a clinical trial today.

every 3000 boys is affected by this disease. the clinical trial he is an accepted 15. then you think of how many children are impacted by that disease and how hard it is to get into that trial, he is an extremely lucky patient to be in a clinical trial. we want to make sure for diseases that are terminal, everyone has the chance to access it before it is too late. host: there is opposition. the hill reports 40 patient advocacy groups told house leaders they oppose the right to try bill, arguing the measure would likely do more harm than good. in a letter sent the house leaders in both parties, the groups wrote they believe the legislation would not actually lead to greater patient access to unapproved drugs that the current regulatory framework exists so patients' detections

are not undermined. what do you say? voluntary.s totally no patient is required to ask for an investigational treatment. no doctor is required to pursue an investigational treatment. no company is required to give someone a drug they don't think is right for them or they are not ready to make available clinicalf the trial. what it does is for a patient that is fully informed of the risk, for a doctor and drug company agree that their treatment could be a good fit for that person, it allows the three of them to make that decision together without giving the federal government a veto over someone's personal medical decision. if it is not right for a patient , they don't have to do it. host: the republican line, cottonwood, idaho. caller: good morning.

excuse my morning throughout. -- morning throat. i do applaud your efforts. i believe in the fda. however, through the years the too muchecome influenced by the pharmaceutical companies in general. therefore, i don't think this bill goes far enough. i don't know that it would include testing for herbal products, which i personally know of people who have been totally healed of cancer through they haveducts, but been under the table were afraid to talk about it. they get this through alternate sources of holistic doctors n -- holistic doctors, or doctors.hic

we need more studies on prevention of cancer and what herbal products can do for it, and other diseases as well. lately, a friend of mine whose , theas multiple sclerosis first thing they did was check his vitamin d. host: i want to give starlee a chance to talk about this. guest: that is a great question. we get a lot of questions about that through our website and social media, does this cover -- natural medicines? we are only talking about access currently inns clinical trials. the fda generally doesn't oversee clinical trials or require clinical trials from clinical trials for

natural medicines and herbal treatments. those treatments are not locked away and unavailable to patients who need them. we are talking about trying to toe access to patients treatments they would not otherwise be able to get. what let's look at president trump said at the signing of the bill. [video clip] with the trump: passage of this bill americans will be able to seek cures at home, close to their family and loved ones. we are finally giving these wonderful americans of the right to try. so important. [applause] pres. trump: america has been a nation of fighters that never give up. we never give up, ever, right?

never give up. we are fighters like the amazing patients and families here today. this is very personal for me. as i proudly signed this bill, thousands of terminally ill americans will finally have the the fightinge, and chance, and i think it will be better than chance, that they ured.be c they will be helped. they will be able to be with their families for a long time, or maybe just for a longer time. them thele to give absolute best as to what we have at this current moment, at this current second. the presidentt made is this treatment would about people to stay closer to their homes, closer to their families. guest: that is one of the challenges we see in access to investigational treatments.

there are often treatments in clinical trials in the united approvedat have been in other countries and are widely available. patients are spending their time and financial resources traveling to other countries to try to get access to treatments they should be able to get access to at home because they are being safely used in clinical trials, they just can't get into the trials. on thethe young men stage has als. he is 33 years old. there is a treatment that has been approved in israel. it is helping slow the progression of the disease. he wants the chance to try, but he is too sick to be in the clinical trial here. we think he should be able to do that. host: good morning, nancy. are you there? caller: yes. can you hear me? host: go ahead.

caller: i just wondered about the cost. does the patient pay, does the therance company have insurance related? are they going to cover any side effects that happen? a great question. right to try has been adopted in thetates in addition to law signed this week. it is a mixed bag with insurance. in some cases, insurance is paying, in some cases they are not. in cases where the insurance company has not covered the cost cover the cost -- the treatment has been given to the patient for free. it is hard to know what will this becomes something used on a wider scale. we will have to see. one thing all of your viewers will know is legislation rarely happens and is over.

i am sure we will be back to the table to continue to refine how right to try works. it is possible pavement is one of the things that is sorted out in the future. host: how will this work? will people who are seeking these medications appeal directly to drug makers? where will they go to be a part of the program? a great question. a patient and doctor will make a decision they want to pursue an investigational treatment. the doctor will reach out to the drug company on behalf of the patient. the doctor and drug company will development the patient protocol specific for that patient. a patient will sign an informed consent form. in every state there are guidelines and laws that require specific information to be in those documents so patients are fully informed of the risk they are assuming by taking an

investigational treatment. the patient will sign the document, and the treatment can begin. line from virginia beach, virginia, your life has been touched by terminal illness. curtis? tage kidneym an end s patient. i wonder if this pertains to currentsuch as the artificial kidney being researched in california? , i am sorry to hear about your situation. sympathies for you. unfortunately, it does not cover devices. devices were initially part of the legislation, as part of the negotiations, devices were taken out of the bill. we are disappointed in that and hope to fix that at a later time. host: georgia on our republican

line. caller: good morning. diagnosed with a rare cancer. i signed up for the clinical trial. i have nothing but great things to say about this. a disease that affects everyone in this country. there is no discrimination. this is the way it is, this is life. when a fellow comes in and says you have a serious disease like this, a lot of people lose hope. there is hope and his name is jesus. thank you. host: talk about the fda more. is the fact that this law you are advocating come you say there's a need for this law,

evidence efta needs an overhaul. it is not as effective as it ought to be? fda needs an overhaul. it is not as effective as it ought to be? guest: a flaw we think in the way clinical trials, the way that patients are chosen for clinical trials. as i mentioned earlier, it is hard to get into a clinical trial. it is kind of like a goldilocks situation. you can't be too sick, but you have to be sick enough. only people that fit this narrow criteria with a particular for the treatment being tested can qualify. when a drug is approved, anyone with a condition can take that drug. we think trials probably need to be opened more. we need to make sure there is a wider variety of patients who can qualify for clinical trials

so that it is easier for people to access investigational drugs while they are going through the approval process. you think the approval process itself is too long? guest: it might be. about whethern't or not the approval process for drug is right or wrong. this is about whether or not patients who need a treatment have access to it. work withe fda can other agencies. we have seen them do this with drug development for diseases like ebola. they have a different way they do clinical trials for drugs like that. ebola is an emergency. oglastoma is an emergency. breast cancer is an emergency. breast cancerhas

and is out of options, that is no less of an emergency to that family then ebola is. democratic line from north franklin, connecticut. lawrence, you are on. caller: t this is lawrenceahler. -- this is lawrence tahler. been legally blind for 15 years but i can walk ok. been having trouble breathing and with my toenails and fingernails recently. i have a doctor from the the a and clinic -- from the va and .linic the hospital he reckoned minds me to go to is 60 miles away.

i was wondering if i could participate in any of these trials for the symptoms i have? people get more information about this and how might they benefit from this new law? thet: let me first address question about chemical trials. there's a website called clinicaltrial.gov that you can select the condition or illness you are challenged with and facing. but clinicalyou trials are available to you and who you can contact for potential information about enrolling. for people who would like to get information about right to try, ry.org.n visit righttot there's basic information, a sample letter that their doctor consent of pharmaceutical companies that have a treatment

they would like to pursue the stuff they can send us an email and we will get back to them. host: starlee coleman, senior at goldwaterr institute. you can find for at goldwaterinstitute.org. thank you, so much, for joining us today. to giveus from boston an opposing view about the right to try law, we are joined by dr. steven joffe, the chief of division of medical ethics at penn medicine. he is joining us to give the reasons why he opposes that law. dr. joffe, thank you for joining me. guest: thank you for having me on the show. host: what is your view of this law, and why do you think it is not as good of an idea as proponents think? guest: fda has had a program called expanded access for decades. it is my view this works well to

to patients who need access to drugs that are not yet available to be prescribed. need forparticular this right to try pathway, because the fda has historically approved 99% of requests that come its way. it might be right to try will not add to the expanded access pathway available to patients. senator johnson said in his letter to fda commissioner gottlieb, the intent is to weaken the fda. that has been my concern, it is pathway towards weakening the fda's oversight of the safety of the drugs we all rely on. host: explain more about the expanded access program if they don't know about it. how is it different than what right to try is doing? guest: the fundamental under expanded

access the fda has to approve the administration of the drug. if a patient and doctor identify a drug that might be helpful, the doctor will go to the company and ask the company for approval to access the drug, which the company can grant or not grant. the dr. bogota the fda and ask for permission to administer the drug. in the past, that was burdensome , but the fda has streamlined it so it takes 45 minutes of paperwork to get that done. now the fda has the request. if it is not an emergency it will turn it around in a couple days. if it is an emergency they can turn it around over the phone in 24 hours. host: with the same people that would be eligible for right to try, would they be eligible for the expanded access program?

guest: i don't see any differences between the people that would be eligible to get a drug under right to access and -- under right to try and expanded access. in addition to being a medical ethicist, i take care of kids that have cancer and life-threatening diseases. i have experience as a physician. the approach is to look for options that are available for the patient will stop first, is there a clinical trial available for that patient? get is the way we can patients access to drugs that might help them, but learn something that tells us if that drug could be safe for other patients. that is my first preference if a patient or family would like treatment. another option is symptom care rather than directed at their cancer.

the last thing is to talk about expanded access, a drug that might be available not through clinical trials or prescription, but going to the fda and asking permission to get those drugs. those are the various options that would be available as we talk with patients and families on how to deal with their terminal illness. host: dr. steven joffe is joining us from boston as we continue this conversation on the right to try bill that was signed into law this week by president trump. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you are a family member are facing a terminal illness, (202) 748-8003. alex on the independent line from fort wayne, indiana. in the past, there was a lot of abuse in the market because drug companies would

work with some doctors to push patients into this, sometimes the wrong medicine. sometimes the patient would not know about better alternative medications. sometimes more complications would happen. , the fda and congress passed law to protect us. going after the patients and enrolling them for different reasons. how is this going to protect us from going back there again? guest: it actually gets to one of my concerns about this law. most major drug companies and biotechnology go -- biotechnological pharmaceutical companies will prefer the pathway that keeps the engagement with the fda. most requests that go to such companies when they are proof will go the route of expanded access and the fda. one worry is it opens the pathway for less frivolous

doctors to go around the fda and do the kinds of things you are worried about -- and exploit patients for financial gain. worry that the right to try laws a step backwards in the way that you are alluding to. saw the. joffe we president surrounded by a lot of people who say they could benefit from this law. he is saying, this could save lives. life for ast extend time, but it could open pathways for people to gain access to things that could lead to a much longer life. what is your response to the president? isst: i think that exceptionally unlikely. to the extent that drugs that are not approved can help patients and extend their lives, in some cases save their life, that is already available under expanded access.

right to try doesn't open access beyond expanded access. it won't make a difference above what we have today. the other thing is particularly at the early stages of drug development, when drugs are considered phase one, all that is required for them to be eligible for right to try, there is little evidence that those drugs are going to make a difference. some of them will be effective, but 90% of drugs failed to reach the market because they are showed to be unsafe or not effective. there may be times when patients benefit under right to try. they probably would have benefited from the same drugs under expanded access. unfortunately, the vast majority of the time those drugs are not going to be helpful in the way the president says. host: al, from watertown, tennessee. doctor is an advocate for continued

government control. i am a certified professional and health care quality. he may be looking at this from an altar listed -- all view, or federal grants from his employer. any time the federal government gets involved in health care, obamacare, the mess the organ donor process is. any time the federal government gets involved, it is a mess. this guy might be a great guy, but he is advocating for more government control. this bill reduces government control. you have to ask yourself, if you are really sick do you want the federal government dictating what you can or cannot do, or do you want to take those decisions on your own? host: go ahead. guest: thank you for your question. i would go back to the point that the fda, rather than excising control in the way of

patients getting drugs, they say yes 99% of the time. when gottlieb testified to congress in october, he said 10% of the time the fda provides helpful suggestions about how to administer the drugs more safely or in ways more safe for patients. at early stages, there's very little information available for doctors and patients about drugs, how to administer them, doses, and risks. the information rests with company and fda. if the fda can say based on our expertise, here's a way you can do it that is even more safe and more beneficial for you, i think we should take it vantage of the knowledge of the fda rather than cutting them out of the process. host: who pays for the right to try experimental medicine? togoes on to talk about,

say, medical costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the u.s. under right to try a cancer patient could pay additional hundreds of thousands of dollars for an experimental treatment on top of the existing cost. you are asking terminally in no people to spend their family's life savings on drugs that don't work. can you explain how exactly this could put people in more financial peril? we heard earlier that patients could still go through their insurance companies. why are they still in financial peril? guest: companies are only allowed to charge what it costs them to make the drug. they cannot make a profit. sometimes that will be very little money, sometimes more if it is expensive to produce. the other concern is the cost to patients, not the drugs themselves, but the doctors and

costs of complications. is governed by the state law, it varies from one state to the next. in one state they say insurance companies can declined to pay for treatments around right to try drugs. in colorado, there is a clause that says they can refuse to pay for any costs for six months ofer the last administration the drug. i'm less worried about the cost of the drugs themselves, i am more worried of patients being taken advantage of by doctors charging them a lot of money for the other services provided. host: what about the point the president made about this allowing people, even if they can't get into clinical trials, even if they can, can take place further away. this allows people to access treatment closer to home, stay with their loved ones. what do you say? guest: important points.

expanded access does the same allows yourtop it local doctor and hospital to make that request of the drug company, allowing you to stay close to home and not travel a great distance. right to try has nothing over and above expanded access. host: hi, norman. conversationr, the has gone over the fact that government-sponsored clinical of people,umber sometimes unspecified, are given a placebo. that makes it distinctly different from the way the conversation has been running so that right to try is covered by the normal clinical trial process. your comment? guest: thanks for your question. certainly in cancer, the field i work in, it is uncommon for clinical trials to use a full c vote as the

comparison -- to use a placebo as the comparison. distinction for life-threatening diseases. they are used in less serious diseases like hayfever. for life-threatening diseases, it is uncommon for patients that placebos as one possibility if they go in the trial. placebos play an important function in allowing us to understand which drugs work, but there is the concern you don't want to withhold treatment from patients in life-threatening situations. they are rarely used. host: we're joined by dr. steven joffe, the chief of division of medical ethics at penn medicine as we continue our discussion about the right to try law that was signed by president trump this week. republicans can call, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

independents, (202) 748-8002. you have a terminal illness, or someone in your family does, you can call (202) 748-8003. , talk about informed consent. we have had caller saying they were worried that this law might lead to people who have dementia or another inability to make informed consent being given drugs they don't necessarily int, need, or might incentive i folks to seek to give these kinds of drugs to them. what do you say? when a patient is considering receiving a drug for a life-threatening illness, whether it is my a clinical trial or not a clinical trial, it is important that patient understand and the doctor to be clear, what are the potential risks, the potential benefits, what are my alternatives if i don't take the drug?

what is the experience of getting the drug going to be like? under right to try, doctors will have the same obligation as expanded access or clinical trials. under expanded access and clinical trials, there is a form that is looked at by another set of eyes, a review board, to make sure the information is honest, truthful, complete, nothing important is left out. we don't have that safeguard for right to try. we don't have another set of eyes making sure it is done right. it will be left up to responsible doctors to do that way and notpriate take advantage of patients that are vulnerable because of their illness. host: independent line from louisiana. caller: thanks for taking my call. appreciate it. there is an incident some years

poland,doctor came from put himself through college, taught himself english, developed a drug or formula where you don't have to take radiation. the government kept blocking him people unless they were terminally ill. you treat them and cure them. trying tovernment was steal his patent. they even sent spies to get the patent. this guy -- the parents of the kids that he treated, they were protesting against the they were trying to steal this guy's pageant. i think he is out of houston, texas somewhere. apparently, i don't know how it played out, i think they finally

let him alone. host: how is that concern related to right to try? caller: because, the government would not let him treat anybody. they were only giving him turn elite -- giving him terminally ill patients that were going to die. they came out alive. this right to try, that is what they need to do. if you you have to lose are a step ahead of death? the federal government was trying to steal this man's patents. host: go ahead. thanks for your question. dr. brezinski is an example of what i'm worried about. i had one of my patients go down after conventional treatments were not working. that patient died after significant toxicity caused by the treatment.

of hisre stories patients being helped, i don't think there are as a lot of evidence to back that up. i'm worried about unscrupulous doctors that will take advantage of patients looking for any answer and offer them something that is not going to work. to the extent that right to try opened that possibility, this could be a side effect to this law intended to help people that will have more harm than benefits for patients. host: i want to ask you about a question that i asked starlee coleman. what does it say about the fda? do you think the fda is not working effectively enough? does it take to long for drugs to be approved? are clinical trials to restrictive? restrictive? guest: the fda is as good or faster than its counterparts

around the world. the fda has developed pathways to speed drugs through that look like they are having benefits where there is a medical need. a lot of people think the fda might be too loose in approving drugs in a situation so it approves drugs on thin evidence. the fda is a difficult balance. on one hand we want good that we that the drugs and our loved ones are taking are effective for the diseases they have. takes a rigorous science. on the other hand, we want people to have access to those drugs as soon as we can. i think the agency is doing a good job blocking that ballots, understands the challenges, and is sympathetic to the challenges the patient's face. host: mike on our democratic line. hi, mike. caller: thanks for taking my

call. i think we should leave politics out of this topic. when we bring politics in it is a disservice to those suffering. thank you. host: i have a question for you. there is concern this law made a bird people away from -- may people away from clinical trials. do you share that concern? in a: there is language law that say patients are only eligible if they do not have access to a clinical trial of that drug. if that language is scrupulously adhered to, it will be ok. my worry is it will be an avenue for abuse and doctors will not the carefully -- will not carefully here to that language and this will end up being an clinical trials.

the reporting requirements is such that it is want to year companies report to the fda how many patients used the drug for what reason. nothe extent the fda may find out about who used the drugs for years, it could be difficult for them to enforce the requirement of patients not being eligible for clinical trials. by that time, things will have already happened. there is a loophole that if not carefully adhere to will make it possible for doctors and natients to make an end ru around clinical trials. ultimately, what we want is safe, effective, prescribe a drugs. host: hawaii. independent line. caller: the interesting concept of targeted therapy, , that discovered a

virus, that will never get funding before he could be considered for this criteria. that is one point. advocates say it is a very useful therapy. it is similar some ways to therapy is going to clinical trials now. that can never be given because it will never have funding from big pharma. you cannot get patented. as an example, another issue with the the low dose now t-rex -- the low dose -- if you couldng comment on those issues. thank you. guest: things for your question. i can't comment on the specifics of drugs you are talking about, particularly the first one. on the off label use of drugs, it is the case that once a drug

is approved for any indication, doctors have the ability to prescribe it for different things. the fda does not regulate what doctors prescribe stop if a drug is potentially beneficial, and there's evidence of the drug being beneficial for some other disease than what is approved for, doctors can prescribe it. there is evidence of the doctor can make a good case, insurance will pay for it. we tend to have pretty good evidence, or at least adequate evidence to say what the right dose is, how safe, what are the side effects to look out for? that makes it somewhat safer to prescribe them for off label uses. under right to try, particularly early on, we won't have the kind of information that allows us to know, like in the off label case, what are the side effects, what is the dose to use, what are the safety concerns? host: richard on the democratic

line. caller: i want to commend you people on the marvelous job you are doing. my question is on the drug safety itself. i hear commercials for different drugs. long swellsyou're up, your throat swells up, call your doctor right away. my question number how can you call your doctor if your airway is plugged up? host: can you talk a little bit gett how patients might these sort of warnings about drugs if they do go through these programs to try to get access to drugs that have not been approved yet? guest: under right to try or expanded access, if the drug is not approved they will not be commercials or label information to tell us what side effects to look out for. that information will have to come from the company, the place

that will know the most about the drug, its administration, and its side effects. the company will probably provide it to the doctor who will provide it to the patient. under expanded access come the fda had a lot of that information and can be helpful in terms of sharing with doctors and patients on here are things to look out for. here are things to do to use it more safely. senator johnson, one of the sponsors of the right to try law, said he thinks it will take power away from the fda. you have concerns that the fda's being weekend? guest: i have tremendous concerns. not only about the fda being weekend, but this being the first step in a long-term goal of weakening the fda further. we depend on the fda to ensure the drugs that we have patients receive are safe, we know how to

administer them, they work for the things we are giving them for postop without the confidence the fda does that, we are in a more vulnerable place. leashed be very worried about that. host: tony, good morning. saying i like the [indiscernible] my question to the doctor, how many patients can a doctor lose before the government steps in? there should be some regulation to that effect. guest: i'm not sure i fully understand or could fully hear your question. one more time? host: we lost tony

unfortunately. we will move on to david on our independent line. ifler: i would like to say he was in a situation where his life was in peril, he would not be so ethical. we're talking about people when a doctor tells them there is nothing more we can do for you. what gives the government the they to tell somebody once have been deemed there's nothing else we can do for you from going out and trying anything they can to extend or save their life without the government system? host: dr. joffe? been in that situation as a physician taking care of kids i cared about. my first step would be to look for what is available and to

work with the fda and drug company. not around the fda. 99% it isys more than not a barrier to getting drugs. to the sense there is a drug that could help me, a family member i love, or a patient i care about, i see a pathway that works perfectly well. it is helpful because the fda the navel to say here is how to do this more safely come here are the side effects, here is how you can do this better because of the information we have in our files. host: you can find more at penn medicine.org. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. update on the carrier segment. chiarella will join us and let us know where things stand

with president-elect donald trump's promise to save jobs from that company from moving to mexico. we will be right back. join us live sunday at noon eastern for our year-long special come in depth fiction edition. novelist contemporary gish jen. >> if we're talking about creativity, and i know many writers, the people that have a lot to say are completely oraunted by being told -- storytelling think the whole is a triangle, that you must learn to do this if you're going to go on, it is necessary but not sufficient. it is not going to make you a great writer. ou sit down with relief

-- early faulkner or early everything, and there is nothing about learning to do those things that impedes creativity. announcer: her books include who's irish? ,atch our special series in-depth fiction edition with on booktv onen c-span2. on q&a, patricia o'toole discusses her book, the moralist: woodrow wilson in the world he made. >> there is a huge psychological literature about wilson. i read it. i have the sense that it just reduced him to edible tangle that i did not feel i could deal with on the strength of my own

knowledge of the theory. some people have said that is stubbornness in later life was a reaction to his father's s, andess, -- strictnes they can point to one story where his father made him revised a little thing he wrote a bunch of times. the supposition is that wilson resented this, but that he was a good boy and put up with it. when you read every mention in wilson's letters of his father, they are worshipful. he never had an unkind word to save his father. >> presbyterian minister. >> presbyterian minister. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on q&a announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now from indianapolis is tom chiarella, a contributing editor for popular mechanics. he is here to talk about the recent piece he wrote, co-wrote

with editor james lynch about the carrier plant into indianapolis -- in indianapolis and president trump's effort to keep the jobs in the factory going to mexico. thank you for joining us today . host: good morning. host: tell us what happened after the election before the president was inaugurated when he went to carrier. 2016, in the fall of carrier announced they were closing the indianapolis facility for fan coil manufacture, and the facility in huntington, indiana. on that day, the video was captured at the company reading that was quite dramatic. people were quite emotional. the announcement was that 1100 jobs would be lost in indianapolis and 700 in

huntington, and at the same time a steelworkers factory was closed in indianapolis, making the total dose to 2000 jobs. then president-elect trump came in and worked with the carrier executives in an intervention following the election before his inauguration. he came out and announced he had saved 1100 jobs. essentially implying to the group that was listening that was in his physical presence, which was the body of workers or representative body of union workers in indianapolis, and everyone felt like 1100 jobs would be saved in indianapolis. it was widely documented that that number was inflated by the now president, including 400 salaried workers and engineers and people who planned to remain . some workers were lost by attrition.

it is fair to say that some jobs were saved. the number is more like 600. the number of jobs that were lost in indianapolis is equal to that. 600 to 700, and the number in huntington is close to 700. there is still quite a lot of lost. host: let's take a look at what then president-elect donald trump said he spoke at the carrier plant in 2016. [video clip] president trump: i will tell you that carrier stepped it up, and they are keeping over 1100 people, which is so great. [applause] president trump: i see the people. i shook hands with people. you are making so many air conditions. you did not even want them to come off for half an hour. he is a ruthless boss. ruthless.

that is ok. i said something to the carrier and united technologies folks, the goodwill that you have engendered by doing this, all of the world, frankly within our country, you watch how fast you're going to make that up because so many people are going to be buying carrier air-conditioners. host: the president touted this. why wait a year and a half after he made this announcement to do this piece in popular mechanics? guest: i live in the indianapolis area. i can tell you that anyone that lives on the west side of indianapolis knows the impact that the carrier plant reductions have wrought locally. we traveled to huntington. my colleague james lynch did a lot of work there. the impact their was more intense. those people felt they were not included in the president's initial claims. several union members and the

union chief described their reaction to the president announcing 1100 jobs, and they all felt for a moment that every union job was saved, but that was not true. i don't know what good will he is talking about the i would say to you that the people here are angry and hurt, and people that are retained are the senior most people at carrier, and they are much beloved by their colleagues in the union, their union brothers, and people are a little reluctant to speak out about this, but lots of people lost jobs. the impact has been significant. host: we want to remind our viewers that we have special lines for this discussion about the carrier plant and the peace in popular mechanics. if you are in the eastern percent of time zones, call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific region, call (202) 748-8001. if you work for carrier or

worked for carrier, we have a special line for you, (202) 748-8002. is it possible to really calculate what the real impact in terms of jobs lost or saved at carrier, and is it possible to really understand what are the causes of this? is this something that would have happened anyway? was it the president's policies that helped create the situation for these job losses? how do you calculate it? guest: i don't think you can credit his policies have anything to do with it. he had not been in office yet. i think one of the reasons it is happening is that manufacturing, generally speaking, is moving towards a new model. waseas manufacturing once breaking up a large task into a series of disk tasks -- discrete

tasks, much of it has shifted to automation. much of it has been compressed so people are doing several pieces in each process. it is becoming a more skilled job but these things together. off shoring, taking manufacturing process and moving it to an economy that is more mexicoe or cheaper like is common, and another is moving towards automation. when you're dealing with a steelworkers union, which obviously took a lot of losses to aday, you're talking union that is well-established and used to be listened to. they felt they were not listen to, and these changes were brought on them by surprise. i think part of that is part of the reason. utc, the parent company of on -- is taking on

its future. there have been rumors for two years that it would be breaking up or tearing apart these companies to make one small focused company out of pratt & whitney perhaps. we did not receive any cooperation from utc in putting together the article. a lot of that seems to do with the present of the stocks. -- rising of the stocks. --is not the first concern of carrier workers. host: for a moment speaking a little more broadly, you mentioned manufacturing jobs, the effect of off shoring and automation on the economy and these types of jobs. we read a headline earlier that the trump administration is trying to boost coal and steel. do you think the president understands the economy and the way that it is changing and affecting workers, whether it is

plansnes or any action like the -- manufacturing plants? guest: it is hard for me to assess what the president understands. he seems to understand the fairly fixed model of economics. you install tariffs for what appears to be a logical reason, and you don't anticipate a trade war that might ensue. lot of times he is doing things that feel like a gut feeling, and that is part of the reason the population response to it. i don't think it is very easy to understand the impact on somebody who has worked for 20 years in a job where they are making $30 with benefits, have reached a lifestyle they really love and have made a family with, and then are told they have to retrain and work a job for half that or less.

i'm not sure the president understands that. the person who retrain's is still employed, and that makes it 4% unemployment rate, but that has a profound impact on that factory. from newse is calling album any, indiana. -- albany, india. caller: good morning. in january, it was the indy star published an article, and i will tell you where the 1100 jobs number came from, was that after the layoffs were complete, there would be 1100 people left in the carrier factory. thereknowledge, i believe still are around 1100 people working in those factories. youlieve those numbers, know, somebody says i saved 1100 jobs, i think that is pretty

honest statement if there is still 1100 people working in the factories that were going to be closed. know, thet, you united states is the economic driver for the world. i don't think anybody that knows anything about economics, which this individual claims that he knows about economics, can say that the united states is not the economic driver of the world. is thathappening now our wealth here in the united states is being distributed , and what people in this global market look at is bringing up the quality of life more in line with what the united states is.

it is really not working that way. insteadappening is of their quality of life coming up, ours is coming down. host: i want to give tom chiarella a chance to respond to those points. go ahead. guest: president trump really did include or hundred jobs that were never intended to leave, salary workers, engineers and design people that intended to stay. there were a little more than 1100 union jobs here at the time of the announcement. 594 were lost. that was an update i got from the union two weeks ago. 594 people are out. about 600 people are left. he included 400 people who planned to stay on and some people who were evening by attrition, who had chosen to leave, another 100. as far as the economic driver of the world, i certainly grew up

with that idea. i think the chinese might argue with us. i think you would find the same thing all through the pacific mexico as to what is driving manufacturing. i grew up in a union city, rochester, new york. i watched kodak and companies like that as they went down the same road. host: we are joined by tom. , is joining us from -- tom chiarella, who is joining us from indianapolis and talking to us about the carrier plant and how it is faring after president-elect donald trump's promise to keep jobs therefrom going to mexico. we have specialized for this discussion. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, (202) 748-8000. mountain and this civic time zones -- pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. if you work for carrier, (202)

748-8002. tom, you write when a large company decides it this cannot go on another day manufacturing its goods in the usa, things get messy. the company announces a plan with euphemistic corporate speak , separations, not layoffs, and they try to execute it with no fanfare. this one got caught in the political crosshairs of a presidential election, in part because you have an incoming president who wanted to make made in the usa one of his stumpable causes. explain a little more what you mean by that. guest: i don't think anyone at utc or carrier intended for the announcement, which was held in front of the entire attending union members, to be captured on youtube. it was a very emotional moment that kind of group in intensity

-- grew in intensity as it went along. i saw that within 20 minutes of it being put on youtube. it took it beyond the confines of that company and brought people in at an emotional moment in the history of the country, and election year, an important one. offshoredn people are to mexico, when jobs are offshored, excuse me, there is a misunderstanding. is there a hunger on the part of mexican workers to steal these jobs from the united states? is there a sense that the mexican government is benefiting from this? what has to be examined is the benefit to utc. you are taking a manufacturing process where people are making hourerage of $20.90 per and $30 per hour with benefits

and moving it to mexico where the scale is three dollars per hour and $5.90 with benefits. we do athlete salaries where we life, wow, what sort of are people able to build on the backs of american labor in mexico? what really happens is you have a workforce in mexico, and i went down there, quite a bit of brick-and-mortar work talking to mexican workers from and you have people for whom it is a totally different lifestyle in mexico than it is in indiana where people have carrier live. these people are living on a lot less and often working two jobs. they don't want to speak to reporters because they don't have the security of a union job. i got a few of them to speak to me. generally, they were very respectful and very respectful

of the american worker and what peril they have to live with in terms of losing a job where the salary and benefits are high. that anticipates my next question. when you talk to the workers in mexico, do they have a sense of the discrepancy of what american workers are being paid and what they are being paid? host: you understand -- guest: their understanding of the discrepancy is about equal to the american understanding of the discrepancy. they are living to the work they can find. .t is not that much cheaper if we are talking five dollars an hour with benefits in mexico and $36 here, i'm not sure it is six times cheaper. these people generally work and ork, andstay in these we their understanding, often they

were surprised. really, almost, $40 an hour, wow. this is the was really with the american worker. -- sympathy was really with the american worker. that is something to recognize when work goes to mexico, workers are highly replaceable. they are treated that way. they respect the company they are working for. nobody had any claims against carrier or any of the other companies i ran into. most of them felt that their rumbly, what they could lose it with just a little pressure. they stay away from talking to the media. guest: -- host: mike is calling from illinois. caller: thank you, c-span.

it seems like self-destruction for this country. it seems like it is planned, finding out recently that gm was stores.nd closing down walmart was asking suppliers to move overseas to get cheaper pricing. find out the cvs drugstore wants their drug companies to move overseas, and it seems like the people that are not moving the drug companies are at war. but all my keyboard just quit -- the whole my keyboard just quit -- nike board just quit. 13 derry farms in wisconsin are closing each week just for r for aselling milk powde few cents less than we do across the world. i think these things are

orchestrated with politicians telling us in an election year 70,000 corporations with overseas while our kids were fighting in iraq. iraq,ds come back from they are homeless and messed up, and we are putting these illegals through college and medical school. is this orchestrated? is this a great country being self-destructed without a shopping fire? host: what do you think? guest: that is a big question. when you're dealing with multinationals you are looking at change and progress that is glacial. wason't know what utc planning in early 2015 and 2016 downthey decided to tamp these jobs in indianapolis. there were certain speculations that it would lead to changes in the larger multinational.

people have the right to change their business. we have very little information about the direction of the company. do i think this ohestrated?i think the changes are absolutely orchestrated to benefit the company and stock price. i don't know. my economic mind is not big enough to look at a conspiracy of that size. there is certainly a trend. there is certainly a pressure to move to cheaper manufacturing sources and more automated manufacturing. that puts americans out of work. from harry is calling oakland, maryland. caller: how are you doing, tom? westernp in an area of maryland, and manufacturing along the potomac river is how people made their living. we have a paper mill, still

there, but it was to have thousand workers at its peak -- 2500 workers at its peak. the paper mill that is left andy is too large machines, they manage about 600 to 700 workers. kelly tire, selling these corporations, pittsburgh plate glass, what was once a strong area, they took the middle class, the part of the area out, and it is gone. what bothers me is the steelworkers unions, they support these politicians that have been after any kind of smokestack industry to put out a is this. -- out of business. you have hillary clinton in west virginia saying she is going to close the mind down and offer

retraining. what are you going to do? are you going to get a job saying, do you want more fries, sir? tom ai want to givharr chance to respond. go ahead. guest: it is difficult to watch part of the generation that grew up with manufacturing as an economic driver of the country and this world, it is difficult to watch. i am sensitive to many of the things you are talking about in terms of loss. we went to huntington, indiana, which is a real community. when you lose 700 jobs, that is 700 families in the area that are losing their income and way of life. i can tell you that utc has been very good about educating its workers. several of them looked at me and said i have a masters degree, two masters degrees. that makes it difficult to not

appear overqualified for the jobs that have been trained to replace. often they are shifting from a $30 and our job, with benefits, and moving down to a $13 an hour job. that is a pretty difficult split. to comment onow it except to say that when we feel jobs that are said, we have to look at the jobs that were lost. it is massive. it is a difficult process. i grew up in a town that kicks losses, including kodak, xerox, and watch that become a rust belt city. i live here, and i was just talking to some of the engineers here. we think indianapolis is thriving, but that doesn't mean

every individual is. wrong with usng looking at the impact of those changes. host: he spoke about how the job losses affected the people at these plants. tell us about that human side, the impact on these individuals that you learned in reporting the story. in a company like utc, believe, a i subsidiary, people, women told me that they had done their training from the time they were 20 years old when they started time the jobl the did not exist anymore. it was part of being a team, adaptable to change, learning the process of assembling control boards, essentially

thermostats for planes and fan coils. they were putting these things together rapidly and accurately. two of them i spoke to said they had never missed a day of work. they learned their habits of work through this job. i don't know if that is an explicit compact a company makes with a union worker, but unions are in partnership with corporations. they were at one time. it is difficult to listen to somebody who says i have two masters degrees, and they think the company for that -- thank the company for that, and i have 20 years since my last absence, and when i needed something, i worked more. when i wanted something, i worked more. i did not expect more. i am speaking of susan hopper,

an individual in our article. susan says it was heartbreaking to be close to retirement and have felt she had built a partnership with her company and union. a partnership with work is what we all want. that is what we all want from a job. these people are calling and saying it is the end of manufacturing here, they are feeling that. all the workers i speak to come including the ones who are still at carrier, they had been moved off of fan coil assembly and onto furnace assembly, they are aware that their union contract only runs through 2020. they are worried about the change at the larger corporation. chief executive officer of utc does communicate with the media usually in scripted news

conferences with jim cramer. you can go through those and parse those, and you can see evidence from two years ago that they were shifting manufacturing towards pratt whitney. it is hard to argue that will not produce jobs for connecticut, but that does not help indiana and the midwest. host: go ahead. caller: hello. i am from a union background. i have a couple questions. i call this stuff pretty close. the first thing, that lip flap that was going on when volkswagen was moving in, and they would not let them have a union. it is my understanding that in germany, the structure of the corporation requires a union as part of the corporate structure. i don't know what went on there. my main question is, wasn't there some sort of financial or

tax incentive that was worked out to save these jobs? was that just an excuse to get lower taxes for the corporation? i will get off and let you answer. thank you. guest: it is an excellent question. there was a state grant tax years infor 10 cooperation for them staying. carrier made between $50 million a year and $60 million a year for the last five years. the benefit here is less than $1 million in state tax credit. it comeste tax cred at the cost of the state. bywas negotiated president trump. i think most experts think it is a fairly small benefit. i did not mean to not mention it. the cost of that falls on the

taxpayer. i want to get to a couple of more calls if we can. go ahead, david. caller: good morning. i am from syracuse, new york. in the 1970's, we had carrier. in the 1980's, it was gone. i was wondering what the gop has the right to work policies, i was wondering how much that affects everything. er,n reagan killed the tow you guys know any, airport tower union, that was just the opening. host: go ahead. what do those union issues, how do they affect us? guest: i think we are about the same age. i used to go to the carrier dome in syracuse. i know syracuse pretty well. i don't think there is any doubt that life for unions has become

close to untenable. it is very difficult to start a union. it is very difficult to maintain a union. it is difficult to see the work of the union that i knew as a young person, pretty high-minded, pretty noble, protecting a lot of people, to see that work become more difficult. i don't think there is any doubt since the air traffic controllers and beyond, union work in this country has become more difficult and less effective thanks to state right to work laws. i don't know if that is the will of the people or the will the corporations in charge. i could speculate. i don't think that would be valuable. i know that these things have tremendous impacts in the rust belt and midwest. they had changed our way of life. if we want a return for that, that is a matter of more people speaking of. host: about a minute left.

mary, go ahead. caller: thank you. good morning. for talking about this important issue. guest: thank you. host: go ahead, mary. quickly. caller: i come from a union background myself, 30 years at california dmv. i am retired after 15 years thanks to my contract, my union contract. guess i was a-- i little off-topic here. when we talk about saving the coal jobs, i just don't -- canand how people can want people to

have jobs. that is the most important thing. in the age of artificial intelligence, it is just so important to have jobs, and the unions can help you keep your job. that is all i wanted to say. good morning. host: tom. guest: all i can tell use that we grew up in the same country. i grew up in a union household. my mother was a member of the new york teachers union for decades. i was always told by my dad, and management guide, that unions put food on the table. i think we may have lost some of that. everyone calling in his leading with i am a union person. i think we need to continue to do that to assert that this is important to us as americans as well as the dow jones average. host: that will have to be the last word for now. thank you so much for joining us.

tom chiarella, intruding editor at popular mechanics. you can find his piece at popularmechanics.com. thank you again. guest: thank you. host: coming up next, we will be taking more of your phone calls in open phones. tell us what news event is on your mind this week. republicans (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. this weekend on c-span, tonight at 9:30 p.m. eastern, the weekly standard annual political summit with the debate on president trump's foreign and domestic policies. sunday at 9:00 p.m., eric holder at the new england councils politics and eggs of that.

columnist and cnn zito andor salena republican strategist brad todd on president trump's swing state strategies. and discussing the flying tigers, the untold story of the american pilots who waged a secret war against japan. c-span3,an history tv, saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern, the civil war, the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 14th amendment with clemson university history has professorill burton -- orville burton. discusses his injuries and recovery during the vietnam war. >> this weekend on reel america

1988erican history tv, the u.s.-moscow summit between president ronald reagan and soviet leader mikael gorbachev. >> the way of democracy is sometimes complicated and sometimes trying, but it is a good way, and we believe the best way. again, mr. general secretary, i want to extend to you and all those who have labored so hard for this moment my warmest personal thanks. >> american history tv on c-span3. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we are taking your calls for the rest of the show. let us know what news items are most on your mind. republicans (202) 748-8001.

democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. as we take a look at some of the headlines and newspapers, the front page of newspapers across the country, the oregonian leads with the jobs numbers we discussed earlier, saying numbers are all good. in los angeles, that is led by trump says the summit with north korea is on again. the president saying he will go to singapore and talk to kim jong-un on june 12. the st. louis post-dispatch needs with new leadership after governor gray tends stepped down down.iten stepped mike parson sworn in as the 57th governor of missouri. ourorie is calling on republican line. what do you want to talk about?

caller: my comment was on the popular mechanics story. host: go ahead. caller: unions, i believe, when they first started, were intended to protect the work appeared i think they lost sight of what their role was. governor put in -- government put in worker protections, and unions helped the downfall of a country by being inflexible so they keep prices high and the profit margins decreased for the company, causing the company to have to leave to keep profit margins high. unions also protect workers sometimes to the same extent ng where youa ga cannot get rid of employees that .re terrible for the company i think, in the long run, unions

caused the demise of certain companies and also caused them to leave to other countries to keep their profit margin type. host: vivian is calling on our democratic line from virginia. hi. caller: good morning. thank you, kim. my first statement is i want to comment on that republican that said obama lied about keep your doctor. ,rump said that was even worse i am going to build a wall, and mexico will pay for it. number two, you have beautiful health insurance. that is to write there. we're not going to talk about the other ones. the jobs numbers, i wonder if they are true. i go to physical therapy down by the unemployment office. 8:00, my appointment at

two times a week now, that line is outside the door. jobsl these people have 223,000 this month, why is that line so long? republicans, is there anything that trump says that -- you all know it is a lie, but is there anything you disagree with this man for? the volume of, what you get is done. health insurance is up, co-pay is up. gas is going over the limit. car, don'tn't have a need medication, and don't look at the world. host: programming note, this weekend, our c-span cities tour explores the american story as it travels to fort worth, texas.

coming up today at 12:00 p.m. eastern time on booktv, although our programs from the city will air together in one time block. visit the texas christian in your shoes exhibit, which tells the story of journalist and author grace the color of her skin to expense life as a black woman in the 1960's. [video clip] >> we are on the southeast side of fort worth. we do rolling town halls on wednesdays. i am a cyclist and have been for years. it is a fun way to get out and engage people and talk about the health of the people. if you're not out and about, you don't hear the things you should from your average citizens. to get kids to know who you are as they study civic engagement. fort worth is in the upper quadrant of texas. we are 35 miles, 30 miles

actually from dallas in the dfw region. if people know the dfw airport, it is equal distance from fort worth and dallas. city ine 16th largest the nation, and with the 2020 senses, we will be at least 14th or larger. we have been in the top five fastest-growing cities in the nation the last 10 years. growing, about a hundred 65,000 people now. the challenges managing the rapid growth we have, delivering infrastructure to accommodate that. we don't want people hung up in gridlock. we're tackling that. we're tackling keeping her inner-city neighborhoods strong. fort worth is a large geographic square miles that

we will annexed. urban sprawl is a problem. we are working on education, working on public school education. for a long time, we were known in the defense industry. in world war ii, we built the bombers here. a lot of people came from central texas and small towns to go to work here. if they were not fighting in the war, they were helping to build the planes here. we are very diverse from medical to logistics, aviation. both lockheed and bell helicopter are located here. we have facebook's largest datacenter now. we are very diverse. i think ft. worth is just going to continue to grow. our biggest challenge is maintaining that feel that people come here because they like it. it is on the right path right now.

make sure to tune in this weekend to booktv and american history tv as we travel to fort worth, texas. to watch video from fort worth and all the cities we visited on our c-span cities tour, go to c-span.org/citiestour. line from ohio. what is on your mind today? caller: i wanted to say a comment about the state of affairs about international trade. i have been wondering about the midwest for about 25 years. in 2000, i wrote a plan called frontieroyo and kentucky, economic development and i have this plan that i am cementing to mr. ross, commerce secretary, and mr. trump to put

300,000 people back to work in a five state area here in ohio, west virginia, tennessee, indiana, illinois, and into nebraska. host: what are the highlights of the plan, dwight? caller: largely, it sells our information about our american history, which is cultural parks, wed national are planning on starting a ohio at park here in the shawnee indian village. from that, we will create movies and all types of trade with countries overseas that like the american heritage stories. host: ok. darlene is calling from iowa city, iowa, our democratic line. what is on your mind today? caller: the great state of iowa

which [inaudible] because ialling here, would needs some help right now. [indiscernible] it is under federal investigation. it is being called by senator ernst and grassley. since been going on here 1999. [indiscernible] alright. some other headlines today, the wall street journal reports that union leaders are reaching out to their members ahead of a supreme court decision that could come down as soon as labor bracesanized

for a ruling that could make it easy for public sector workers to stop paying dues. unions across the country are reaching out to hundreds of thousands of members to persuade them to keep paying dues. toy have sent text messages 800,000 members as part of a program that includes meeting with workers and sending mailers to homes. we have a goal of speaking to every union member and getting them to recommit to the union said seiu president mary kay henry. roughly half of its 2 million members are public sector workers. and the supreme court, there is a challenge to agency fees on the basis of the first amendment. arkansas onng from our independent line. caller: good morning to you. thank you to c-span for taking my call. i have comments on labor and trade. on labor, unfortunately we have

been operating under socialist capitalism for 80 years since the new deal. bearing the cost of all retirement pensions is the idea, pushing that cost only on to labor and the cost of all medical since johnson of the med icare in the 1960's. that extra 15% tax on labor means that you're making it easier for capital. if both are producing a widget that costs a dollar to produce, 90% tax to is paying produce that versus the guy that the million-dollar machine or has to pay 9%, you are subsidizing capital and

keeping the value of labor low. i think the problem why those jobs are disappearing is basically because it is all on the backs of labor. when people make over $200,000, they don't have to pay into social security anymore. trade, this new chair, other countries don't -- tariff, other countries don't pay it. i voted for the man, but which he would pull back 25% on steel. this is a lead-in to inflation. it scares me. host: i appreciate that. cameron is calling on the republican line from washington. caller: good morning. i watch the program every day. i really love "washington journal." i have been watching it for 22 years. i want to comment on the ar-15 and the shooting environment, not shooting, assault rifle

environment that is so hyper today. i wanted to briefly comment on the union thing. it depends on what state you are in. the public sector unions in washington state dominate because there is always a democratic governor. there is no third party. there is no negotiation process. they just rubberstamp with the unions do. after you are there eight years, their pensions and salaries go up 11% per year. i want them to have a good life, but i would ask the public listening, do our salaries go up 11% per year? i really want to talk about the ar-15. i am a target shooter. i don't use the rifles because they are more for shooting pumpkins and making a lot of noise. in about five seconds, you can spend $30. the ar-15 was termed ar from

armalite rifle. the left has hijacked this to call it assault rifle. they want to take our second amendment. let's take your first, democrats. you cannot speak until the government gives you a permit to talk, and then if the government approves, you can speak. these1986, 150 million of rifles have been produced for domestic use in the u.s.. before 1986, even more. 1986, 150numbers from million. in 30 days times 159, that is 4.5 billion. let's say the average gun owner has more than one of these. i do. the odds for a shooting in a 30 day.

billion to one. the press making this issue ban, i am, we should digressing. look at the mathematics. ask yourself, 1.1 billion to one. our: dale is calling on independent line from mississippi. i wasle. caller: listening to your callers as they called in. i appreciate that you let me speak. i am a 55-year-old white man from south mississippi. i grew up in the south where there was racism everywhere. i can remember them burning crosses at our church because i went to a church where there were blacks as well as white. i can honestly say i have seen a tremendous improvement in our

country on racism. peopleers me when i hear say, well, trump is a racist. i cannot see that when he is just trying to protect their country. been from our area a tremendous amount of job loss. i am speaking on behalf of my children who have looked for jobs. that is why i am calling in. sometimes we confuse the issue. if it is jobs, let's say it is jobs. don't call me racist just because he is trying to protect their country. i have seen racism. i believe there are racist people in america, but i'm not one. it offends me to be called one. i appreciate you allowing me to speak this morning. host: some other headlines today, the naacp and other special education advocates are suing the education department.

for the past several years, the education department has received thousands of civil rights complaints, victims of alleged sexual assaults saying their universities mishandled their cases, girls basketball teams seeking equal access to gymnasiums. the education department undersecretary betsy devos began dismissing complaints that placed an unreasonable burden on the department. civil rights groups allege that by doing so the education department maybe unlawfully dismissing complaints even at students and families present ample evidence of discrimination. they say this close is a critical out for students to defend their right to an education classrooms and on college campuses. larry is calling for massachusetts on our democratic line. caller: hi there. host: go ahead. caller: i am a democrat, but i

vote always for the best candidate i consider best. example,ot -- for president trump has doubled the standard deduction, which i think is something very excellent. my question is about twitter. have any standards are the use of its services -- for the use of its services, such as someone sending out millions of twitter messages, particularly with someone who is politically affiliated? that is my question. is there any standards for abuse of twitter? from earl is calling in tucson, arizona. hi. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i am good.

what is on your mind today? caller: we have a lot of things going on in this country. what i understand, i am 85 years old, and i have been watching these things for a long time. i just haven't started now. we are in a terrible situation. ,he minority people in america but we can solve our problems, but we are going to have to come together as one. you talk about one nation. we are going to have to come together as one nation. we seem to be dividing ourselves with the help of certain people. we can come together. i consider myself a self-taught historian and bible scholar. what i have learned, and what i solve our problem

with that book because the book tells you what is going to .appen if you are divided against yourself, you are certainly going to fall. it is just like a household. a household divided against itself cannot stand. from lenore is calling georgia on our republic mine. you get the last word. go ahead. caller: i was just wanting to say that i do disagree. i am a trump supporter, but i disagree with the zte policy on the phone's. china got caught red-handed selling technology to north that what hethink should have done is triangulated with congress to pass a law that would prohibit the use or sale

toany high technology chips china. host: coming up on tomorrow's "washington journal," we will be joined by the professor here to discuss presidential impeachment. will beony scaramucci her to talk about trump's presidency and politics. that is tomorrow on "washington journal." you will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. until then -- we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. until then, have a great saturday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017]